Source: Cointelegraph
Original: “Kima Joins Mastercard Sandbox to Enable Stablecoin Card Top-Ups”
The decentralized settlement protocol Kima has integrated with Mastercard's sandbox program, allowing users to top up prepaid cards using stablecoins through self-custody wallets.
According to Cointelegraph, Mastercard partners can now leverage Kima's settlement infrastructure, enabling users to use stablecoins to top up prepaid cards via self-custody wallets across more than 10 blockchains, with supported stablecoins including USDC and Tether's USDT.
Kima CEO Eitan Katz stated that this integration demonstrates the applicability of stablecoins in everyday use cases, effectively removing barriers and intermediaries in the process of converting cryptocurrencies to fiat while expanding the utility of cryptocurrencies.
"Kima's mission is to break down the barriers between digital assets and traditional finance," Katz said.
Katz described Kima's settlement system as an asset-agnostic system designed to simplify cross-ecosystem payments while supporting public blockchains, private ledgers, and traditional banking channels:
"Kima's asset-agnostic settlement layer aims to simplify the complexity of value transfer across different ecosystems, whether they are public blockchains, private ledgers, or traditional banking systems." According to the announcement, Kima's infrastructure aligns closely with Mastercard's goal of bringing stablecoins into mainstream financial applications. Katz opposes the hardline stance of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency purists regarding the opposition between digital assets and fiat currency, believing that "cryptocurrencies and fiat must coexist seamlessly to realize their full potential."
Katz explained that Kima's solution achieves seamless cross-chain interoperability and eliminates reliance on intermediaries, custodians, or complex smart contracts. This innovation reportedly significantly enhances the security and efficiency for all parties involved.
In early May this year, the European Central Bank (ECB) included Kima in a list of 70 invited private sector partners to assist in the innovation of the digital euro. The companies on the list have agreed to collaborate with the ECB to explore the payment functionalities and use cases of the digital euro.
"The breadth and innovativeness of the proposals highlight the immense potential of the digital euro as a catalyst for financial innovation in Europe," said ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone at the time.
Despite Kima establishing institutional partnerships, Katz told Cointelegraph that "compliance should not mean giving up control over your funds or data." He stated that Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks are handled by third-party banks and virtual asset service providers during the onboarding process, and Kima never accesses this data.
Katz further explained, "Once users pass the review, each transaction carries an immutable metadata tag, and our protocol-level engine checks it against local regulations." He noted that this covers "compliance requirements from the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) to Singapore's regulatory guidelines — all completed before settlement."
Katz emphasized, "Keys remain fully under the user's control," while cryptographic proofs still ensure compliance.
"Institutional players gain a plug-and-play control layer, while users enjoy the true benefits of self-custody," Katz added.
Related: What’s Next for the U.S. Stablecoin Bill?
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
